This blog is the personal musings about travel from someone who has already spent 50+ years on this planet and is looking forward to the 2nd and 3rd halves of their life. My opinions are mine. I only link to articles I find interesting.

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Milwaukee is an old industrial city. And one of the centers
of that industry was The Historic 3rd
Ward of the city, just south of downtown. For many years, this area was run
down and in disrepair. Today it is one of the places in Milwaukee where the
development of high end housing, shops and restaurants have changed the life of
neighborhood.

The 3rd Ward was
first developed in the early 1830’s. It was mostly a community of
Irish immigrants. The businesses were mainly warehouses and factories, due to
its proximity to the mouth of the Milwaukee River and the railroad that came in
in the 1850’s, connecting Milwaukee to the Mississippi River. In 1892 the ward
was deeply damaged by a huge fire that destroyed over 440 building and left
over 1000 families homeless. As the 3rd Ward was being rebuilt over
the next 30 years, they developed a community of buildings that were all very
similar in style and today present a unified look throughout the ward.

Milwaukee River Downtown – Third Ward from the UW-Milwaukee
Collection

Today the 3rd Ward is home to over 500
businesses. It has become the center of Milwaukee’s arts and fashion community
with boutiques and galleries. It has become the center of one of Milwaukee’s
largest art events – the monthly Gallery Night, where over 50 art galleries
open their doors well in to the evening.

I spent a Saturday morning walking around the 3rd
Ward. It is a beautiful mix of old and new. When you walk along the Milwaukee
River you can see the old industrial buildings sitting next to new and rebuilt
ones. As you walk along the river you get to newer buildings, mostly apartments
that have replaced many of the old warehouses in the 3rd ward. If
you follow the river you will arrive at the Henry W. Maier Festival Park, which
is home to Milwaukee’s many summer festivals.

Old train bridge in the Milwaukee River

Wisconsin Cold Storage

Shops on N. Broadway.

N. Broadway.

Jennaro Bros.

The two primary thoroughfares in the 3rd Ward are
N. Water Street and N. Broadway. They run parallel to each other
connecting the north to the south ends of the Ward. They are the main shopping
and dining streets and get very crowded on a nice summer day.

Goll & Frank - and the building cracked

River overlook at E. Buffalo St.

My Favorite place in the 3rd Ward is the Milwaukee
Public Market. Opened in 2005, this is the place to come for really good, fresh
food at reasonable prices. Choices include salads and sandwiches, seafood,
sausages (Here is a
complete list of vendors). You can take your food home, or walk upstairs
and enjoy your lunch right there.

One last thing, I spent the day playing with the “monochrome”
setting on my camera. Please let me know what you think of the photos.

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

When you visit the Minneapolis-St. Paul area there are many
things to see. In my opinion two places that should definitely be on your list
are the Minnesota History Center and the Cathedral of St. Paul. These two
buildings are near each other on Cathedral Hill. Together they present parts of
the history of St. Paul, along with some beautiful views of the city.

Minnesota State Capital

The Minnesota
Historical Society and its museum occupy a beautiful building on a hillside
overlooking downtown St. Paul. This very modern facility belies an interesting
fact, The Historical Society was founded before Minnesota was even a state.
Founded in 1849, the society had been around for 8 years when the state of
Minnesota entered the Union in 1858. So even before it was officially formed,
the state of Minnesota was aware that having an organization to collect
historical documents and artifacts for future generations was important. Today,
those artifacts are housed in an excellent facility that includes both
permanent and temporary exhibits on history of the state.

The main permanent
exhibit is called Minnesota’s Greatest
Generation. Here you can walk through some of Minnesota’s history. Step
behind a 1930’s soda fountain or sit in an old movie theater. Take a ride with
paratroopers on a mission over WWII Germany. But most importantly, take the
time to sit and enjoy the videos of the people who lived these experiences.
Hear about their lives. Their stories are presented in a way that is not
nostalgic and that presents a realistic vision of what life was like during era
from 1935-1955.

1930's Soda Fountain

Jukebox

round tube TV

Note the 3-digit phone number

Another permanent exhibit is Weather Permitting. Dedicated to all of the types of weather that
you might run into in Minnesota, from thunderstorms to snow storms to
tornadoes, this exhibit shows how Minnesotans have dealt with what
mother-nature has thrown their way over the years. You can enter in ice-fishing
house or ride out a tornado in a storm cellar. You will also see how people
dressed for weather in decades past.

There are also temporary exhibits. When I visited over the
summer the art work of Chuck Jones, one of the main animators for Warner Bros.
during the heyday of Bug Bunny and others, were on display. Right now (Oct.
2016) there is a traveling exhibit from the Football Hall of Fame called Gridiron Glory. Over 200 photos and
artifacts are on display along with several interactive displays.

I really enjoyed visiting the Minnesota Historical Museum.
The exhibits are presented in a way that engage visitors of all ages. I watched
kids playing at the soda fountains and at a replica munitions assembly line. I
sat with people my age in a C-47 living through the Second World War. All of us
were completely engaged in learning some of the history of Minnesota.

Continue up the hill from the Historical Museum and you will
arrive at the Cathedral of St. Paul dedicated to St. Paul the Apostle, name
sake for the city of St. Paul. Built in 1915, it is the fourth largest and
third tallest church in the United States. The church is decorated with 24
stained glass windows, has four main chapels and, behind the altar, six more
small chapels dedicated to the national saints of the countries whose
immigrants made up the majority of the Catholic population in St. Paul
one-hundred years ago, Italy, France, Germany, Ireland and the Slavic
countries.

Cathedral of St. Paul

Maybe of an exorcism?

In my opinion, this cathedral is one of the most beautiful
in the United States. I would suggest walking up to it from the parking lot at
the Historical Museum. It’s setting on top of a hill, overlooking St. Paul says
a lot about the role of the Catholic Church in the city. The beauty of the
church’s statuary outside and inside says a lot about the money that the Church
was able to raise in building this cathedral. As with many of the old European cathedrals,
this building is truly awe inspiring.

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